


Amor Pulchrum Est

by Asteraa



Category: ASTRO (Band)
Genre: Angst, M/M, Then fluff, and cute fluffy myungjin, but protective big bro jinwoo, then angst, this is a mess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-06
Updated: 2017-06-09
Packaged: 2018-11-09 19:56:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11111727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Asteraa/pseuds/Asteraa
Summary: With a quick swipe he grinned and placed the phone against his ear"Ah, Jinwoo my love-""I need your help."His smile faltered and he gripped the phone tighter.





	1. Chapter 1

Myungjun was having a good dream. It involved a certain Park Jinwoo and a lot of ice cream, and whoever woke him up was going to have to deal with a very grumpy Myungjun.

He pressed his palm to his gaping mouth trying to, unsuccessfully, stifle a yawn. He dragged his feet across the wooden floor as the knocking got progressively louder and more urgent. He squinted at the clock near the door and felt close to crying.

It was 2:30am. Who in their right mind would wake him up that early?

“Who is it?” he asked while slowly unlocking the door.

“Myungjun? Can you- “

“Jinwoo?”

Myungjun felt energised, his tiredness poured away as soon as he heard his voice.

He flung open the door with a smile that faltered when he saw just what was on his doorstep.

It was Jinwoo…and Minhyuk?

Minhyuk had an arm around his waist and one arm around Jinwoo’s shoulder. There were several bruises on his face and Myungjun could sense Minhyuk was in more pain than he was showing.

He hissed out a “hey hyung.” before his knees collapsed under him.

Myungjun let out a cry and moved forward, putting one arm behind Minhyuk’s back, trying to take some of the weight. The pair struggled to drag him back into the house,

Jinwoo’s arm and legs were shaking from carrying him for nearly an hour.

“This kid,” Jinwoo sucked in a sharp breath “really needs to stop working out.”

“What happened to the bus?”

Jinwoo shook his head, beads of sweat rolling down his face,

“Too late.”

Myungjun said nothing as they placed Minhyuk on the sofa, his body half-on and half-off. Jinwoo fell on his knees panting heavily and clumsily tore off his thick jacket. Myungjun, being the good boyfriend that he is, went to his kitchen to get a glass of water. As he poured it into a cup he kept a beady eye on Jinwoo, who had now progressed to lying face down on the floor, and on Minhyuk who was still lying on the couch passed out.

“Jinwoo…look what your amazing boyfriend got you~” he half sang. He nudged him gently with his foot, making sure that he hadn’t accidentally died. Seeing as he only got an  
exhausted wave as a response he moved over to Minhyuk.

“Minhyuk…look what your amazing not-boyfriend got you~” he half sang to him in a desperate attempt to get him to at least respond.

He huffed at how Minhyuk wasn’t waking up, taking it as a personal offence. Jinwoo eventually got up from the ground, dredging up his depleting energy and drank some of the water. He sat with his back against the sofa and pulled his knees up.

“So, you want to explain why Minhyuk is injured and you’re here instead of your house?”

“Not yet,” Jinwoo whispered. “Besides, your house was closer.”

He gave a small smile and lifted himself off the floor

“Is there somewhere I can take Minhyuk? I don’t want to leave him on the couch.”

“You know perfectly well there’s a guest room. You’ve been here enough times.” Myungjun rolled his eyes fondly.

“Yeah, but I’ve only stayed in your room before.” He stated

“So are you staying with me tonight again?” Myungjun smiled suggestively

Jinwoo looked amused, then his lips curved downwards and he seemed conflicted, he kept glancing from Minhyuk’s prone figure to Myungjun’s expectant face.

“Ah, erm, I should probably be with him tonight.”

“Oh?” he raised an eyebrow and teased, “Should I be jealous?”

Jinwoo blushed “Myungjun? Seriously? He’s like a brother. That’s just-“ he cut himself off “Forget it, just for that I’m not talking to you for at least a week.”

He raised a finger and tried to suppress a laugh as Myungjun looked at him with horror. Jinwoo had threatened him with that so many times, but he could never go past one day without talking to him.

Myungjun’s over-the-top apologies were about to roll of his tongue when Minhyuk groaned from the coach.

“I should probably take him to bed.” Jinwoo whispered.

He took care as he curled his fingers under Minhyuk and adjusted him so his head wasn’t drooping uncomfortably. He carried him bridle-style to the guest room while Myungjun rushed in before him and moved the blanket off the top. Once placed, Myungjun put the blanket over him covering him up to his chin, but Jinwoo stopped him and shook his head.

“He hates it.” Was the only explanation that came and Jinwoo adjusted the blanket so it covered him only up to his waist.

“You should get some sleep, I’m sorry for waking you up at this time.” Jinwoo looked apologetic, his face resembling a kicked puppy.

“Don’t be sorry, I don’t mind at all,” Myungjun leaned forward and pressed a light kiss on Jinwoo’s forehead. “I’ll see you in the morning.”  
  
As he left he closed the door behind him, stealing a quick glance at the pair. Jinwoo was now seated on a chair right next to Minhyuk and was lightly grasping his hand, fiddling with his fingers.

Myungjun lay on his bed, his mind buzzing too much. Jinwoo and Minhyuk were a strange mystery in their friendship group. Truthfully, no one knew the relationship between the pair, all anyone knew was that something happened so they now lived together, and that Jinwoo was extremely protective of him

He kicked off his blanket and sighed. Well, if he wasn’t going to sleep any time soon he might as well check up on Jinwoo and Minhyuk. He crept up to their door and opened the door a smidge, just enough for him to see but not enough for the outside light to seep into their room.

Jinwoo was sitting on a chair next to the bed. Glancing at his watch showed that it was now around 3:30 and yet, here Jinwoo was. Putting others needs before his own. Myungjun’s small smile dropped and his eyebrows furrowed as Jinwoo moved. One hand was now smoothing down Minhyuk’s hair while the other is holding a wad of tissues. They were sitting close enough for Myungjun to recognise the look of worry on his face. Lately, Jinwoo had worn that face more often than not.

Distracted by his thoughts, Myungjun failed to notice that Jinwoo had moved so that he was now standing over Minhyuk. He was quietly shushing him as Minhyuk began tossing and shaking. Myungjun’s heart wrenched for him. There was something about Minhyuk being so vulnerable that made Myungjun want to hold him and never let him go.  
His heart starting beating faster as he saw Minhyuk arching his back and twisting around. Jinwoo, who moved with the ease of experience, leapt on his bed and sat behind Minhyuk so his head was in his lap. He smoothed down his forehead and rocked him forwards and backwards, occasionally humming.

Myungjun felt like he’d intruded on something private. He moved backwards and tip-toed back into his room, his heart still beating wildly. Truthfully, he felt like he would never  
be able to go back to sleep or look at Minhyuk the same way he did before.

For years he was known as someone strong, someone everyone could rely on to be a rock for them. For Myungjun to see him like that felt like a heavy blow, how many times had this happened? After all, he was human too. He should’ve known Minhyuk couldn’t always be that strong.

Myungjun shuffled around trying to find a comfortable spot and tried to sleep. It felt like he’d only just closed his eyes when he heard his alarm and had to open them.

He let out a soft keeling noise, he really didn’t want to go to work, he was sure he would fall asleep there.

Once changed, he grabbed a croissant and peaked his head into the guest room. They were still in the same position. Jinwoo, practically sitting up resting against the headboard, but Minhyuk had now turned so that his head was resting against Jinwoo’s chest and his arms were wrapped around his waist while his legs were splayed haphazardly. He was pretty sure there was some drool pooling around Jinwoo’s chest.

Myungjun crawled inside and jumped up without a sound, popping right in front of Minhyuk’s sleeping face. He took out his phone slowly and snapped several pictures before tucking the phone back into his pocket. Myungjun giggled and crawled back over to the other side where Jinwoo’s sleeping face was faced towards him.

“Jinwoo?” he whispered, tapping his cheek lightly.

To which, he hummed in response.

“I’m going to the library now, are you gonna be fine here?”

Jinwoo hummed again and moved his head closer to Myungjun’s voice but otherwise remained fast asleep.

‘There’s no way he’s going to be awake for a long time’ Myungjun thought. He fumbled through his satchel and took out a sticky note writing a note and adding several different variations of hearts that took over most of the page.

He left the note by the table and moved to dash out, already knowing he’d be late. He turned to look at the sleeping figures and bit his lip

‘What if they don’t see the note?”

By the time Myungjun left the house he had written 10 notes and placed them around the room, some on the bed and some scattered around. He was nearly an hour late but it was worth it knowing he’d make them smile when they wake up.

It was only when his stomach rumbled that he realised he left his croissant on the table. He let out a soft wail and hit his head on the table ignoring the worried look of his co-worker.


	2. Chapter 2

By the time Myungjun had dragged his tired body out of the library and walked home it was nearing 8pm.

Finally, he was home and could rest, and no one would disturb him. He slot his key in and was about to open to door when he heard shouting from the inside.

He screwed his eyes up tightly and rested his head against the door.

_This is not what I need_

Putting on a happy face he opened the door with a shout.

“GOOD EVEN- oh” He opened his mouth in mock surprise.

“Bad timing?” he awkwardly laughed.

_Honestly, I deserve a Grammy for my acting_

Jinwoo was sitting on the couch facing away from Minhyuk while the latter was stood a few metres away, hands clenched and breathing hard.

Minhyuk turned his face away from the view of both of them.

“It’s fine, I was just leaving anyway” Minhyuk moved to leave but Jinwoo lunged to grab his arm

“No, you’re not.”

“I don’t need you to protect me.” He snatched his arm from Jinwoo’s grip and crossed his arms.

“Well, you obviously do, considering how stupid you were to go look for trouble.”

_This would be a perfect time to leave._

With that thought Myungjun slunk into his room, leaving the duo to their argument.

* * *

 

They were both frustrated, Minhyuk wasn’t listening to Jinwoo and neither was the other. “

You are not my father” Minhyuk hissed, 

“I don’t care what you think, I took you in. You’re family to me.”

Minhyuk scoffed, “What next, you lock me in my room like a misbehaving child-“

“-YOU COULD HAVE DIED!” In the aftermath of the shout, the silence seemed deafening. Jinwoo took a step closer, clutching hold of Minhyuk’s arm.

"You could have died,” he spoke softer. “I nearly lost you. I can’t go through this again, I’m terrified whenever you leave the house. I-I can’t lose you.”

Minhyuk looked away, he’s never been good with dealing with emotional people. He can’t deal with Jinwoo, especially since he seems on the verge of a breakdown.

Still not looking at him he sighed and moved away, hoping against hope that Jinwoo wouldn’t catch his lie.

“Fine, I’ll try not to get into trouble.”

Jinwoo tiredly rubbed a hand on his face.

“Minhyuk…”

“I said I’ll _try_.”

Jinwoo opened his mouth when Myungjun burst out of his room, making him jump.

He was sporting bright green shorts and an equally bright shirt. He clapped his hands and smiled, bright enough to rival his clothes.

“I know none of you have eaten! So, I’ll cook!” If he was expecting praise, he was sorely mistaken.

Minhyuk just sounded resigned, “I guess I’ll cook then.”

"I said I'd do it..." Myungjun sounded pathetically pitiful. His words trailed off and he widened his eyes, giving him the impression of an innocent child.

Minhyuk smiles “Hyung, I love you. I really do. But the last time we let you cook, 4 people got food poisoning and you put Moonbin off fish for a month. _Moonbin_!”

“That was one time!”

“And last time the chicken exploded…”

“ –this is bullying, I can’t believe I’m letting you do this”

Minhyuk starts laughing unbelievably.

“Are you seriously laughing at me? You brat!” Myungjun pointed a finger at him and started chasing him around.

Jinwoo was standing in the middle of the room, a smile growing. He could always rely on Myungjun to raise Minhyuk’s mood.

“HEY! Who’s cooking? Are we going to eat or not?” Jinwoo shouted, mentally prepared to throw several cushions at the pair.

“I’m cooking!” both shouted

“ _My **house**_!” Myungjun half shouted, half whined

“Jinwoo!” He weaseled himself closer to his boyfriend and draped his arms around his neck so their foreheads were together.

“You think I’m a good cook don’t you?”

Jinwoo blushed, “well, erm. You’re better at laying the table?”.

Myungjun shoved a laughing Jinwoo away from him

“Traitors! The whole lot of you.”

“What about Dongmin and Bin hyung? What about Sanha?” Minhyuk asked, on the floor from laughing so much.

“I like them more than both of you! I’d like them more if they came back from their holiday though.”

Jinwoo hugged his pouting boyfriend and rocked him from side to side.

“Well…for the next two weeks until they come back, you’re stuck with us” Jinwoo smiled and leaned in to give him a small kiss when he felt something hard hit his face.

“I’m sorry!” came a sheepish shout from behind the couch.

“Minhyuk…did you throw a _cushion_ at me?” came Jinwoo’s incredulous voice.

“Stop with the PDA then!”

“I was just- never mind,” Jinwoo gave up, “are you going to cook or should I let Myungjun do it?”

Minhyuk shot up and ran to the kitchen with a shout “I’m going.”

Several hours later and the trio had eaten and cleaned up with minimum mess.

Minhyuk had gone to sleep in the guest room and refused to let Jinwoo in his room

“You two…do what you need to do” he grimaced before slamming the door on Jinwoo’s face.

Back in Myungjun’s room, the pair had made themselves comfortable. Myungjun was ready to sleep but Jinwoo had a hundred thoughts racing through his head.

"Myungjun?” he whispered half expecting to not get a reply but got a hum in response.

“I’m scared.”

Myungjun then turned around so he’s facing Jinwoo who’s looking up at the ceiling

“what’s the problem?”

“I’m scared of a lot of things right? I'm scared of cliffs, I'm scared of heights...the normal things. I'm also scared that one day you'll look in the mirror and see yourself as I see you. You will realize just how amazing you are and that you deserve better than me...”

He took a deep breath and wet his lips. “I'm terrified that you'll leave.”

Myungjun kicked him under the duvet. “Park Jinwoo you are a fool, if you think I’m ever leaving you, you are mistaken” he punctuated the last words with a soft kick to Jinwoo’s shins.

Jinwoo said nothing.

Myungjun, sensing that something was wrong interlaced their fingers together and sighed,

“But… I can tell something else is bothering you.”

Jinwoo sighed “I’m scared about Minhyuk.”

“I figured.”

Myungjun wriggled up, propping himself against the headboard and pulled Jinwoo up so his face was smothered against his chest and he was embracing him.

“Now, tell appa Myungjun your problems.” he said in a sickly sweet voice.

Jinwoo snorted and swatted at his chest. He took a few beats before he began.

“I’m scared something more serious might happen, and I won’t be able to help him next time.”

Jinwoo clenched his fist in Myungjun’s shirt. “I love him so much, he’s practically family to me. I wouldn’t be able to bear it if anything happened to him”

“Jinwoo…maybe I’m not the best person for you to tell this. I think you should tell Minhyuk”

“I have, he won’t listen. Or, he will listen but he’ll forget about it the next day. He-“ Jinwoo looked up “You can’t tell anyone this”

At Myungjun’s nod he continued.

“Minhyuk never had the best of childhoods, we all knew that I think. Don’t worry, his dad never did anything to him. Actually, I think that was the problem. He never cared for him. So he used to walk around, made wrong friends and got into gangs. I felt so stupid, he was my neighbour and I never noticed anything.”

“Jinwoo you can’t have known”

“But I should’ve noticed something. So, on the day I moved I asked him to come with me. But, sometimes the gangs come looking for him. Or worse, he goes looking for them. This isn’t the first he’s gotten into major trouble because of them.”

Myungjun’s mouth was dry, “Well, now you won’t be alone.” He smiled “I’ll be a second dad to him! You can be the boring dad, and I’ll be the fun dad that gives him sweets.”

Jinwoo whacked him on the chest, making Myungjun groan in pain.

“I’m serious.”

“So am I, you think I’d ever let anything happen to him? You’re practically his dad, and we’re practically married.”

Jinwoo smiled, looking slightly appeased before frowning.

“Why am I the boring dad?”

“Fine, you can be the boring slow dad.”

Jinwoo let out a shout and started tickling Myungjun.

“Take it back!”

Through peals of laughter and fits of wriggling, Myungjun managed to gasp out a ‘never’.

Jinwoo shouted again and tickled him further. He moved so he was straddling Myungjun’s waist and refused to stop until Myungjun managed to breathe out a ‘wait’.

Jinwoo pinned his arms down and waited for him to talk, both were breathing heavily and were grinning.

“Can you please- oH.”

The couple were oblivious to Minhyuk’s incessant knocking and failed to notice that he had entered the room.

Jinwoo was quick to speak “it’s not what it looks like!”

“That’s what they all say.” Minhyuk looked pained at the visual image that came to his mind “I’m just gonna...yeah… I’m gonna go and drown myself in music.”

Jinwoo crawled off of Myungjun when Minhyuk left, embarrassed.

“Aww, I was enjoying myself there”

“You’re shameless, do you know that?” Jinwoo accused

“Only for you, my love~” Myungjun teased, pinching his cheek.

“Go to sleep, you dork.” Jinwoo smiled.

Myungjun enveloped Jinwoo in his arms and refused to let him budge, pressing kisses into his hair every so often. Soon enough they fell asleep in sweet bliss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We all need that sweet fluff before the angst don't we?
> 
> tbh, this was mostly just a filler
> 
> send me love at glowingjinjin! on tumblr and i'll send some your way too ;)


	3. Chapter 3

Myungjun swore whoever woke him up would pay. This was one of his only days off this week, he did not deserve to be woken up this way.

He pried his eyes open. The door of his bedroom was open and music was blasting in.  
He nudged a snoring Jinwoo, how he hadn’t woken up astounded him.

“Jin- “He yawned so hard he was sure he dislocated his jaw. “Jinwoo? What…is he doing?”

“mmm?”

“Minhyuk…your son. What is he doing”

“mmm.”

“Jinwoo,” He whined “you can’t just say ‘mmm’ as an answer.”

“mmm.”

Taking matters into his own hands he rolled out of bed and landed on the wooden floor, hard. 

Still, Jinwoo didn’t wake up. Myungjun huffed and sprung up, a smirk on his lips.

Popping his head out of the room, he gestured wildly to get Minhyuk’s attention. At last, the music was switched off and Minhyuk came bounding at him.

Myungjun gestured at Jinwoo’s sleeping figure and made a shoving motion with his hands.

The younger boy was hesitant, knowing that Jinwoo hated to be woken early. But the idea of payback easily swayed him.

They crouched on top of the bed, hands eager and ready. Myungjun indicated with his fingers when they would push him, counting down from three…two…one.

There was no scream, Jinwoo fell with a loud thump and stayed there. The duo looked at each other slightly worried before peering over the edge of the bed and burst out laughing.

Jinwoo was rubbing his head and looked dazed and confused.

“Did I…fall?”

The two didn’t reply, too busy with trying not to cry with laughter.

“Wait,” Jinjin’s jaw dropped. “Did you _push_ me?”

At this their shrieks got louder. Jinwoo grabbed them by the waist and pulled them down with him. Too weak from laughing, all they could do was feebly protest. Jinwoo pulled them closer and shook them.

“You _really_ pushed me? Your favourite person?” He voiced, sounding mock hurt.

Myungjun shakily said “we do this out of love.”

Jinwoo gave a short laugh but stayed silent, enjoying holding his two favourite people in his arms.

“Erm, hyung? Don’t you have work?” Minhyuk asked after a few beats of silence.

“Nope,” Myungjun’s face was splitting from how big his smile was. “The library’s closed today, I get an off day!”

Minhyuk nodded and wriggled around, burrowing himself closer into Jinwoo’s side who shook the both of them off and stood.

“Well, we have to get back to our house anyway, we took too much of your time.”

“You’ve already stayed for 2 nights -“ Myungjun protested

“-Besides, there’s some issues with our house I have to sort out” Jinwoo finished, looking older than his 21 years of age.

Myungjun pouted at him, and held both his hands swinging them gently. He stood and pulled Jinwoo closer so their faces were less than a foot away from each other, to which Minhyuk made a pained expression and bolted out of the room.

“I’m going to go and get my things ready.” 

Jinwoo smiled at Minhyuk’s back as he left.

“You totally did that on purpose.” He stated, eyes still on Minhyuk.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Myungjun smiled innocently, wrapping his arms around Jinwoo.

They stood like that for a few minutes, enjoying each other’s closeness before Minhyuk came in, looking like he’d rather walk through fire than witness them making heart-eyes at each other.

Myungjun, with regret, let go of Jinwoo and walked them to the door.

“Ok, you better call me as soon as you can. Minhyuk that includes you too! I want to see both your beautiful faces tomorrow, at the latest!”

Both nodded, although Minhyuk less enthusiastically than Jinwoo. Myungjun moved closer and gave Jinwoo a light kiss, and another one…and another one.

He stopped when he heard someone clear their throat. The youngest was looking away, pink dusting his cheeks.

“Ah, Minhyuk. I’d never forget you.” Myungjun smiled and moved towards him, to which he stepped back in fear.

“You’re not going to kiss me too, are you?”

Myungjun scowled playfully “Why would I want to? You’re not as pretty as Jinwoo.”

Instead Myungjun reached out and lightly placed his fingers under his chin, tilting his head. The bruises from 2 days ago were fading, but still looked painful

He spoke softly “Take care of yourself, ok?”

Minhyuk moved away from his hand looked away, embarrassment turning the tip of his ears to a fiery red.

Myungjun spoke slightly firmer “Look after yourself and Jinwoo, can you do that for me?”

He was let down by the only reply being a short nod. Not wanting to make them leave on an awkward note, and enjoying his embarrassment, he moved forward and pulled him into a hug and placed a wet clumsy kiss on his uninjured cheek much to Minhyuk’s chagrin. 

He looked pleadingly at Jinwoo “Can we go now, please?”

“Look at that Jinwoo, he even acts like your son.”

The pair blushed and stepped out of the house, Jinwoo gave his boyfriend one last kiss before they went on their way.

The two had been gone for at least an hour now and Myungjun kept catching himself giggling at them.

It took him at least another few hours before he went stir-crazy.

He sat upside down on his couch trying to relieve his boredom when his brilliant idea came.

_‘Minhyuk said I can’t cook didn’t he? Baking is technically the same as cooking, right?”_

* * *

 

After a while walking Minhyuk started getting frustrated. While he loved it when Jinwoo paid attention to him, Jinwoo wasn’t exactly being subtle in showing his concerns. Every so often he would glance at his leg when he thought Minhyuk wasn’t looking.

“Y’know… if something’s on your mind, you can always say it out loud.” He said with a slight edge.

Jinwoo slightly jumped, too focussed on keeping his eye on Minhyuk legs.

“Hmm?”

“I said,” Minhyuk repeated with more force “Instead of staring at me, you can just tell me the problem.”

Jinwoo frowned, “Minhyuk please, I can’t deal with your attitude so early in the morning.”

Minhyuk’s temper flared, he’d been stuck in a perpetually bad mood ever since Jinwoo found out that he’d been fighting behind his back again. 

“We are _not_ doing this is public,” Jinwoo hissed “We’ll talk about this when we get home.”

The rest of the walk was in a sombre mood, no talking and fake smiles at people they recognised across the street.

Once reaching home Jinwoo barred Minhyuk from storming into his room, instead he sat him down and refused to let him leave.

“Ok, I don’t know what your problem is, but we are sitting down and talking about it.”

“You make us sound like a family.” Minhyuk scoffed, pretending like the thought they weren’t didn’t hurt him.

“As long as we live together we are a family,” Jinwoo said softly, coming closer to him, crouching so he was looking up at the younger boy. “I don’t know why we’re fighting right now; I hate that we are.”

“I just-“ Minhyuk folded his arms and took a deep breath, “I don’t see why you can’t trust me.”

Jinwoo tilted his head and looked confused.

“You treat me like a child, you think I’m too delicate just because I was unlucky to get caught by them once. You barely let me leave the house anymore.”

Jinwoo nodded, now understanding. “ahh, it’s not about trust Minhyuk, I don’t want you to go out for your safety. I don’t want you to make the same mistake again and get hurt.”

Maybe Jinwoo should’ve worded it differently, or maybe Minhyuk wasn’t in the right state of mind to deal with this since his anger started rising.

“What do you mean, _mistake_?”

“I mean, that you go out and get into gangs” 

“Are you kidding me? You’re bringing this up again?” Minhyuk stood, he honestly thought that he would’ve gotten over this. “I don’t know how many times I have to apologize for something after you’ve already told me you forgive me for it!”

“I never asked for you to apologise! I only want to be sure that you won’t be senseless enough to do this again.” Jinwoo’s frustration at Minhyuk not understanding grew.

“Why do you hate what I do so much? It doesn’t affect you-“

“YES IT DOES! Do you know what the life expectancy of someone in a gang is? Do you know? 20 years old. Don’t look so shocked, I did my research.” Jinwoo started pleading, “Minhyuk you’re only 18, please. I-I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if something happened to you.”

Jinwoo’s exasperation grew as Minhyuk stood, silent and still.

“Y’know sometimes I really hate you, but-“

Minhyuk turned instantly, face burning and tears building up, “If you hate me so much, why don’t you just tell me to leave?”

Jinwoo looked terrified, “That’s not what-“

“I’m leaving, right now, before we say something we’ll both regret.” With that Minhyuk grabbed his coat and bolted out, slamming the door.

* * *

 

It was nearing 10pm Myungjun was on his 6th batch. The recipe stated for 225g of butter to be used…surely 225ml of oil wouldn’t make a difference?

He cautiously poured exactly 225ml of the oil into the bowl when he felt his thigh vibrate and start ringing. He shrieked, hands flew towards his heart and the measuring jug flew from his hand.

 _‘This is…not good.”_ he thought as he surveyed the damage on the counter.

Several trays were spread haphazardly, a few were burned, one had managed to explode, and one had tasted absolutely disgusting. Adding to the recent mess of spilt flour and oil made the room look like a war zone.

He reached to pull the apron over head when his thigh rang again. Heart still beating fast, he reached down and patted the offending area.

Myungjun had somehow forgotten that he had put his mobile into his pocket, he took it out and glared at it as if it had insulted him. All negative feelings melted away when he saw who was calling him.

With a quick swipe he grinned and placed the phone against his ear

“Ah, Jinwoo my love-”

“I need your help.”

His smile faltered and he gripped the phone so tightly he was sure there would be perma-nent imprints left in his hand.

“What happened?”

For what seemed like the longest time there was no sound. He wet his lips and was going to ask again when he heard a gasp.

“I-it’s Minhyuk. We-“

Myungjun heard his breath hitch.

“Jinwoo, you’re scaring me.”

“I’m sorry, we had a fight. I don’t know how I messed up so much. He’s gone.”

Myungjun felt his blood freeze, “…what do you mean he’s gone?”

“He left, ran away. Myungjun, he usually would’ve been back hours ago. Oh god, what if something’s happened to him?”

“Ok don’t panic-“

“Not helping!” Jinwoo cried out, his breath coming in short gasps.

“-where does he usually go? Like, after fights?”

“I, erm. I’m…I can think of 2.”

Myungjun could still hear his voice shaking so he spoke softly 

“Hey, you know we’ll find him. Everything’s going to be okay, you’ll see. We’re gonna find him and we’ll be able to laugh about it afterwards.”

There was no reply for a while.

“I hope so.” Came a quiet voice before he heard a click signifying the call had ended.

Myungjun forwent cleaning up and put on his jacket anxiously waiting for Jinwoo to text him the address.

 _‘You check the first place. I’ll look in the other place.’_

Myungjun searched up address for directions. If he ran, he might be able to catch the last bus.

This was a mistake. Sweat was already forming at the base of his neck and his calves were burning. Eventually the bus stop came into view, he signalled for the bus manically and practically collapsed on the seat when he got in.

Finally, he reached the stop, he flung a quick shout of thanks at the driver and ran over the hill like Jinwoo told him. 

It was empty.

There was no living soul there. He swept his hand through his hair and let out a shout.

He dialled Jinwoo’s number and grew agitated as he didn’t pick up the phone.

The dialling tone seemed to be mocking him until finally he picked up the phone.

“Jinwoo! He’s not near the tunnel, have you had better luck?”

“…Jinwoo? Are you there?”

The lack of a reply was building him into a frenzy.

The world seemed silent for a bit, everything was impossibly muted.

He felt close to collapsing when he heard the broken voice.

 

* * *

 

  
Jinwoo had sent Myungjun to another place where Minhyuk had been. He desperately hoped that Myungjun would be the one to find him. If Jinwoo found him near his father old house, he didn’t know what they would do if they found him there.

He felt like he was walking aimlessly now, there was no sign of him. But, at least it meant that Minhyuk was nowhere near here.

He walked around for a few minutes, his anxiousness slowly melting away. As soon as he turned the corner he felt like he had been punched in the gut.

There stood Minhyuk, surrounded by a semicircle of 3 people. Two of them were barely taller than him yet they made him seem smaller than a child. One of them stood, arms folded and one hand hidden inside his jacket. The tallest stood in the middle, hands clenched as though prepared for a fight

Jinwoo gauged the distance, they were stood less than 100m from him and he strained to hear them. When he saw them advancing on Minhyuk and him taking a few steps backward, hands raised, he felt panic rise. Maybe this would be a good time to intervene.

Minhyuk heard footsteps behind him, expecting another gang member behind him he tensed and was prepared to run. Even though he knew he wouldn’t get far.  
Instead it was someone worse.

 _‘No! He can’t be here. Please, why was he here?_ ” Minhyuk was cursing and praying in his head as Park Jinwoo sauntered up to them as calm as can be with no care of his life.

“Now, now,” Jinwoo said calmly, pretending as if he wasn’t about to throw up from fear. “I know he’s a pain, trust me, _I know._ ” A hand landed on Minhyuk’s shoulder, guiding him back a few steps. “But he’s my brother. I’m going to assume you didn’t know that? Because you wouldn’t possibly be so stupid as to start shit with _my_ brother. Right?”

The 3 of them looked at each other before the woman on the right stepped forward.

“Listen mister, I don’t know who the hell you are but you better scram before you get hurt.” 

Jinwoo scoffed, “okay I’ll leave. But I’m taking him with me.”

“No can do, he stays. He needs to pay for leaving.” The member on the left shifted, adjusting his hand in his jacket.

Jinwoo narrowed his eyes, “I’m pretty sure whatever he has there-” he stated gesturing at the member, “isn’t legal, is it?”

The woman, presumably the leader, gave a sharp laugh, “Ah jeez, you’re naïve ain’t ya?”

He sensed they were getting antsy, the 2 male members were looking slightly anxious, as if they were on a time restraint.

She clicked her tongue “Forget about it, I’m growin tired anyway. Tang, grab him!”

The tallest member, Tang, raised a meaty hand and grabbed Minhyuk by the back of his collar and lifted him up

Minhyuk kicked wildly in the air as Tang brought him to his chest and trapped him.

Jinwoo let out a shout and moved to attack Tang.

The shorter man removed his hand from his jacket and pulled out a gun.

Minhyuk stood still, tense, while Jinwoo was held back by the woman, struggling against her grip.

“Now,” he hissed breathing heavily “you’re gonna let us take him and you’re going to shut up about it. Or I’ll have it use this.”

Jinwoo doubted he would, his hands were shaking too much. 

“Bugs, what are you doing?” the woman hissed “Boss said not to.”

Minhyuk looked scared out of his wits, he was staring wide-eyed at Jinwoo who looked like he was planning something.

His legs were shaking and he just wanted to be home with Jinwoo and to forget about all of this. He wanted - he _needed_ a hug from Jinwoo, he needed him to say that everything was going to be alright.

Everyone was silent, there was no movement. However, it only takes a second for a situation to turn to chaos. It only takes a second for everything to change.

Jinwoo put all his power into snatching his arms away from her grip and elbowed her in the face. In that instance he jumped in front of Minhyuk, facing him when there was a loud bang.

They say getting shot is one of the most painful things you can experience. In reality, Jinwoo felt more pain seeing Minhyuk looking at him with desperation and terror. Tears caught on his eyelashes as they continued to fall one after the other.

He wasn’t aware of falling, everything sounded muted. He could hazily make out the members shouting at each other and running away leaving Minhyuk to scramble to his side.

Jinwoo tried to move and everything came back into focus, the pain was building, escalating. He turned to Minhyuk whose tears were free falling.  
He shakily raised one hand and pressed it against his cheek.

“Hey Minhyukie,” he let out a wavering smile, breathing was getting difficult and his lungs were burning. “I think I got shot.”

At this Minhyuk seemed to choke on air, his cries came out noisily and he was breathing raggedly, he wiped at his tears furiously and stuttered out

“W-we’ll get you help. It’s fine. It’s gonna be fine. You’ll live.” He was rambling now.

“Minhyuk, please.” Jinwoo knew there’d be no point in raising his hopes. 

“Why’d you have to get involved?” he asked hoarsely, his tears were slowing but his breathing was still coming out raggedly 

“Well, I tried asking them nicely first. Wasn’t just gonna take a hike and leave you outnumbered three to one, was I?” Jinwoo hissed sharply as he felt a pain spread through his back.

Jinwoo looked more panicked now, he knew he was running out of time.

“Minhyukie, listen carefully. You’re not going to be alone; I want you to live with Myungjun now.”

Minhyuk ducked his head and shook it over and over again.

“No no no no, I want to live with you, I need you.” 

“I’m so sorry, I love you so much, you’re the best brother I could ask for.” Jinwoo’s words came out haltingly

“Don’t say goodbye, please.” Minhyuk grabbed Jinwoo’s hands “Please, stay alive, we need you.”

“Stay strong for Myungjun.” Jinwoo gasped out.

His breath came out rattling. He winced and smiled at Minhyuk who was still shaking his head.

“Stay safe for me, make me proud, ok?” Jinwoo smiled and patted his face once before it fell to the ground.

“no...no no NO NO!” Minhyuk gathered Jinwoo up in his arms, he burrowed his face into Jinwoo’s top still screaming.

It felt like an eternity that he sat there holding him in his arms begging and pleading for him to come back, no longer caring about the blood seeping around the ground and into his clothes.

Through ringing ears, he made out the sound of a phone.

He took the phone and blinked away the tears noticing the contact name

 

_One and Only <3_

 

His heart skipped a beat, how was he going to tell Myungjun he killed his boyfriend?

He answered the call and pressed it to his ear

“Jinwoo! He’s not near the tunnel, have you had better luck?”

Somehow hearing Jinwoo’s name spoken as if he was still alive made the sorrow increase. He pushed the phone against his chest and curled against it, choking down an incoming sob.

He didn’t know if Myungjun replied before he held phone 

“Hyung?” his voice broke.

There was an immediate breath of relief 

“Oh Minhyuk, thank God he found you, do you know how worried sick we were?” Every word felt like a stab against his heart.

Jinwoo was worried about him, even though they had a fight. Jinwoo was worried, and he killed him.

“M-Minhyuk?” came a worried voice.

Oh God, Myungjun was going to hate him.

He tried speaking again “Hyung?” this time, he managed to croak out the word “help me.”

He dropped the phone and let out sobs that wracked his whole body. He grabbed his arms and curled in on himself thinking that if he made himself smaller, the pain too, would get smaller. Less painful. Less real.

He stayed like that for a while, eventually he ran out of tears and sat shivering, too numb to feel anything.

Later, he heard a voice screaming his name in the distance.

Minhyuk slowly brought his head up, in the distance he saw a small figure running around screaming against the wind.

With a power he didn’t know he had, he raised himself on shaky legs and scrambled towards the figure.

Voice sore from crying he could only croak out a shout and threw himself at Myungjun

He flung his arms around Myungjun’s neck and buried his face in his neck.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to, I want him back, I’m sorry-“

“Hey, hey Minhyuk look at me,” Myungjun pried Minhyuk off him and put one hand on his cheek and used the other hand to wipe away his tears. “What’s the matter? Where’s Jinwoo?”

Minhyuk shook his head “I didn’t mean to. Jinwoo…” He couldn’t bear to hear himself say it.

Myungjun’s encouraging smile was wavering at the ends. He looked over Minhyuk’s shoulder and saw something... _someone_ … lying on the ground.

As if his feet were moving of their own accord he found himself getting closer to the body.

Behind him he sensed Minhyuk fall to the ground, retching. All he could focus on was Jinwoo, who seemed to be sleeping. Except, sleeping people don’t have a smallest of smiles on their face, and sleeping people’s chest rise.

He tapped his cheek and grabbed Jinwoo’s cold hand.

“Jinwoo, my love? C’mon, wake up. You’re going to get ill.” He had to be asleep. There was no way he wasn’t. “Jinwoo? If-if you wake up, I’ll get better at cooking…I-I’ll be a better boyfriend.”

As expected, there was no response. At last, he finally seemed to understand.

“Jinwoo wake up, you idiot, wake up!”

Barely registering the police sirens behind him he continuously tried to wake him up. Hands reached around his waist and tried to prise him off, he tore at them screaming. He couldn’t let them take Jinwoo away from him, he wouldn’t. 

He was placed in an ambulance seat and a blanket wrapped around him. He looked up and saw Minhyuk looking at his hands blankly. He snuck off and stumbled to Minhyuk, pulling him into an embrace.

Minhyuk’s hands automatically went to return the embrace, almost robotically. 

“We’ll get through this, I promise.” 

Myungjun would be brave for him. Even though on most nights he would break down crying, and Minhyuk would crawl into his bed, they would find comfort in each other. 

They never did find his killer, years came by and went. Myungjun wouldn’t say he was living, more like he was surviving. Surviving all this time without Jinwoo. 

Minhyuk returned to school with a new passion, he became an advocate for young people. Joining charities and forming societies to keep teenagers off the street. 

Jinwoo had helped him, and in return, he would do the same.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow....there ends one of the longest fics i've created so far
> 
> I have no idea if you were expecting a happy ending but, there we go!
> 
> Trust me, killing Jinwoo hurt. A lot
> 
> as always send me love (or tears) at glowingjinjin and I'll send love back ;)
> 
> (I think my notes are getting glitchy so if there's another note along with this just ignore it)

**Author's Note:**

> This was harder to write than I thought it would be.  
> next chapter should be up either tomorrow or in 2 days :)  
> send me love at glowingjinjin on tumblr and i'll send some your way too ;)


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